This invention relates to bathing devices and, more particularly, to an apparatus for showering and/or bathing bedridden patients.
In hospitals and nursing homes it is generally accepted practice to administer baths to bedridden patients by rubbing the patient's body with a hand-held sponge soaked in warm soapy water or some other bathing fluid. The procedure is time consuming and messy and involves frequent moving of the patient. The rubbing may in itself be deleterious to patients having particular skin disorders. The bed also tends to become somewhat moist and uncomfortable to the patient.
If a sponge bath is inadvisable for one reason or another, then it is necessary to move the patient from the bed and into some sort of bathtub. This requires lifting the patient out of the bed and into the bathtub, thus risking injury to the nursing staff and especially to the patient if the patient has wounds or particularly sensitive skin which could be abraded or torn by the procedure. Once the patient is placed in the bathtub, then the patient is subjected not only to the cleansing fluid but also to the contaminated bathing fluid remaining in the tub. This can lead to serious consequences when wounds (and especially infectious wounds) are being cleansed. Furthermore, the bathtub ordinarily comprises a rigid surface which decreases ventilation and creates pressure points against localized areas of the patient's body, thus increasing the possibility of injury to and discomfort of the patient.